Neuroscience, Sound and Reading Your Mind

Earlier this month on the CNN I listened to Sanjay Gupta's interview with Nina Kraus in his "Chasing Life" podcast segment "The Power of Sound".  As a consequence, I ordered her book "Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaninful Sonic World".  It's arrived.  Now I just have to find the time to read it.

Sound, whether music, speech, a thunderclap or gunfire, takes place, not in the ears, but in the brain.  Yet, neouroscience has produced relatively little research on the subject, especially compared to the study of brainwaves related to light and vision.  Professor Kraus points out that hearing, not sight, is our early-warning system.  In addition, our relationship with sound is interactive since we produce it and solicit it as well as interpret it, whereas sight is mainly a one-way street.  Moreover, our "sound" mind interacts with all the other facets of our brain.

During the interview, Prof. Kraus played recordings of the brainwaves from several subjects who all listened to one, particular, popular song.  Although each recording was slightly different, you could recognize that, same melody in all of them.

I didn't find it surprising that the subjects' brainwaves were similar -- but wait a minute -- I, myself, could recognize the song!  That comes pretty close to being able to read someone's mind, doesn't it?  Granted, this was just rhythm and pitch, not speech, and the brainwaves were created via active listening, not re-creating the song from memory.  But still....!

I can't wait to see the results from additional studies that come out of her lab.

A "Snoozeday"

 In the US when a government holiday falls on a weekend, offices are closed the following Monday, instead. So most people don't work but there are no holiday celebrations to see to, either. It's what I call a Snoozeday.

Today is such a day. I'm going back to bed.

Rudolph says, "Support Diversity"

 I have a new favorite Holiday Season Color Vowel lesson.  In a short introduction plus 4 short verses, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" uses every vowel in the CV chart except for ORANGE DOOR and PURPLE SHIRT.  So add the slogan "Support Diversity" to the lesson and the vowels are all covered!

Even as a kid I always thought the other reindeer were fair-weather friends, wanting Rudolph as a companion only after he became famous.

While looking online for the lyrics, I ran into the story of Robert May, the author who originally wrote the tale, and his brother-in-law Johnny Marks who wrote the lyrics.  Here's a link to the The Real Story Behind Rudolph. It is rather interesting, in itself.

One of my students pointed out that "your" as commonly spoken "yer", could be classified as PURPLE SHIRT rather than BLUE MOON.

Below is the CV list:

a CUP of MUSTARD -- loved, one, other
BLACK CAT -- as, Dancer, Dasher, had, laugh, Prancer, Santa
BLUE MOON -- Cupid, Rudolph, used, you, You'll, your
BROWN COW -- down, how, out,  shouted
GRAY DAY -- came, famous, games, names, reindeer, say, sleigh, they
GREEN TEA -- Eve, even, glee
OLIVE SOCK -- Comet, Donner
AUBURN DOG -- all, call, foggy, recall, saw
RED PEPPER -- ever, let, never, Red-Nosed, then, very
ROSE BOAT -- glows, go, know, most, nose, so, won't
SILVER PIN -- Blitzen, Christmas, him, history, Vixen
TURQUOISE TOY -- join
WHITE TIE -- bright, guide, my, shiny, tonight
WOODEN HOOK -- poor, would
SCHWA/a CUP OF MUSTARD -- a, but, the
SCHWA/BLACK CAT -- and
SCHWA/BLUE MOON -- do, to
SCHWA/OLIVE SOCK -- of
SCHWA/RED PEPPER -- any
SCHWA/SILVER PIN -- if, in, it, with

English Christmas Traditions and the Dual Nature of the Language

The winter holiday season is a great time to demonstrate to students the "split personality" of the English language -- its Germanic/Celtic nature of plus its Latin/French roots.

Every country and climate has its own Christmas or solstice celebration, usually featuring the colorful local plants available in that climate and traditional lights to illuminate the longest night of the year.  In the English-speaking world, Christmas is a Christian holiday brought to England by the Romans. However many of the traditions and celebrations are inherited from the area's older, winter solistice celebration: holly, ivy, mistletoe, a Yule log.

Consider the dual etymologies of the following vocabulary:
    "eat" vs "dine"
    "drink" vs "imbibe"
    "drink to" vs "toast"
    "bestow" vs "donate"
    "give" vs "confer"
    "make merry" vs "celebrate"
    "have fun" vs "revel"
    "bedeck" vs "decorate"
    "bell" vs "chime"
    "sing" vs "chant" 

This year, I chose "Jingle Bells", "Deck the Halls" and "Auld Lang Syne" as the best representatives of seasonal songs to teach my bricks-and-mortar class.  They have a few "old-fashioned" words which need to be explained.  But I forgot that I simply cannot carry a tune.  Without a room full of students who already knew the tune, the singing effort turned into a sort of dull roar. 

Next year I'll try "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". I can read that one as a poem.

Christmas Before Thanksgiving -- Part 2

At LingoPractico.com, under "Holidays" in the "Portfolio" tab, I have a second Christmas link.  I can't take credit for contributing anything to that lesson because it simply goes to another teacher's YouTube video.  Maybe I'll write up a transcript or a vocabulary list for it.  

"Let's Learn English Words and Phrases About Christmas" by Bob the Canadian is simply a delightful tour of holiday celebrations in a small, farming town in Canada.  It includes a trip to a Christmas tree farm, decorations in the local shops, a local Christmas Market and a Christmas parade down Main Street at night.

Sadly, many Americans of the current generation have never seen a small-town parade, only the big-city spectacles as shown on TV.  Impressive floats glide down the streets of New York, Chicago, LA and more, lighting up the night as if it were day.  However you feel a different kind of magic when you see neighbors'  tractors, excavators, harvesters and boats strewn with lights and transformed into fabulous, gleaming monsters and mythical barks passing by, accompanied by the enthusiastic music of local school marching bands.  And of course civic organizations compete to create the best entertainments and most spectacular moving displays.

The flashing lights of the glossy police cars, ambulances and fire trucks are enhanced by the twinkle and glitter of raindrops, while the nighttime sprinkle does not dampen the enthusiasm of the bundled-up, intrepid Canadians jubilantly celebrating the midwinter season.

Christmas Before Thanksgiving -- Part 1

 I dislike seeing Christmas advertisements in the malls before Thanksgiving but that's the way it is, these days.  In many places, the decorations are up even before Halloween!

When it comes to lesson plans, though, earlier is better.

Since everything shuts down for the holidays, if I want to practice this vocabulary with my students I have to think like the retailers do.

I've actually already completed my Christmas EdPuzzle and Thanksgiving isn't until day after tomorrow.

If you want to see it, it's here.

Goodbye Baader-Meinhof?

Definition of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon: a situation where something you recently learned about suddenly seems to appear everywhere.

You've probably noticed this in relation to a new word.  You start to hear it all the time.  This is true, not just in a second language you are studying, but in your native tongue when you encounter a specialized or abstruse word.  Like abstruse.

This morning I realized the phenomenon hadn't happened to me in ages, almost a year and a half to be specific.  The last such new word was "onboarding", a term which came up in the process of teaching a student who was looking for a better job as an HR professional.  Does that mean I've quit learning new vocabulary?  Not at all.  I now have a student who plans to attend medical classes in 2023.  In the past, I would have used "prone" and "supine" interchangeably to mean "lying flat".  However, "supine" means specifically lying on your back (which I sort of knew but never thought about) while "prone" means specifically lying face down.  I'm learning abstruse new words all the time, sometimes while searching for the simplest word to express an idea.

"Onboarding" stands out because my frequency-illusion experiences are now rare. Am I associating with illiterate people? Since many current acquaintances are teachers, I hope not!  Have people suddenly started using a smaller vocabulary? Doubtful. So my brain must have quit latching on to a newly learned word, saying, "Hey, there it is again!"

I miss that.